ARLINGTON -- The last thing the Rangers needed was another quasi-bullpen game.
With an overworked bullpen in the final stretch of a postseason push, “all hands on deck” has truly been the name of the game for Texas this week. It didn’t go as planned on Saturday, though.
Rangers starter Cal Quantrill left his start in Saturday's 6-2 win over the Blue Jays with one out in the second inning with an apparent injury. Long relief man Jordan Montgomery, who threw 16 pitches out of the bullpen just two days ago, took over after Quantrill departed.
The final pitch Quantrill threw on Saturday was an 87.8 mph four-seamer. He had averaged 93.8 mph on the pitch this season. Though the Rangers’ bullpen stepped up in a big way to take the series against the Blue Jays, Quantrill was placed on the 15-day injured list prior to Sunday’s finale with a right lat strain.
“At the beginning of the game, coming out of the bullpen, [we knew] we would have to watch him and see how the thing goes,” manager Skip Schumaker said. “We thought he had enough to get through the game, but talking with him in between innings, he knew right away that it was going to be pitch to pitch, hitter to hitter. After the ground ball from [George] Springer, we knew we had to go take a look and check on him, and unfortunately, he had to come out of the game.”
Quantrill left his last start in Arizona after six innings due to back tightness that cropped up midway through the game, but the concern level was low both that day and throughout the weekend leading up to Saturday’s start.
Schumaker said the ailments were unrelated.
Quantrill has been one of the Rangers’ most consistent pitchers since he was called up from Triple-A Round Rock on April 15. He’s made 14 starts for Texas this season, all since Jack Leiter landed on the injured list on June 21 after ankle surgery. Quantrill has gone 6-4 with a 2.51 ERA in those outings, including a 1.82 ERA in his last nine starts since July 28. He had a career-high six consecutive quality starts entering Saturday.
He is not eligible to return in the regular season, but the first day he would be available in the postseason -- should the Rangers advance -- is Oct. 5.
A Rangers reliever has tossed four or more scoreless innings in three straight games leading up to Quantrill’s departure on Saturday: Nathan Eovaldi (4.0 IP Wed. vs. BOS), Cody Bradford (4.1 IP on Thurs. vs. BOS), and Trevor Williams (4.0 IP Fri. vs. TOR).
According to Elias, it marks the first time in Rangers history that an individual reliever has thrown four or more scoreless innings in three straight games.